A disk drive is a data storage device that stores data in concentric tracks on a disk shaped medium. Data is read from the medium by spinning the medium about a central axis while positioning a transducer near a desired track of the medium to sense the data. The transducer provides an electrical signal representative of the sensed data to data processing circuitry within the disk drive which converts the electrical signal to a format that is recognizable by an attached host unit. The converted data signal is then delivered to the host unit for use thereby. Disk drives can store data in any of a number of different forms, such as magnetic data storage and optical data storage.
Disk drive units are normally enclosed within a housing to protect the workings of the drive from the exterior environment. As can be appreciated, any undesirable substances that exist within the disk drive housing can have a deleterious effect on the operation thereof. For example, in a magnetic disk drive, particles and volatile gases within the drive housing can result in performance problems such as stiction between the magnetic transducer and the disk, transducer crashes, and thermal asperities. To reduce such occurrences, the level of airborne particles and gases within the disk drive should be kept low.
Therefore, there is a need for a filtering structure to reduce the levels of undesired substances within the housing of a disk drive.